OKLAHOMA CITY—As it’s often said of playoff losers in sports, the Spurs need not hang their heads.

They were valiant in tying for the NBA’s best record this season, valiant in compiling a 20-game winning streak that included the first 10 games of the postseason, and valiant in building an 18-point lead on the road here Wednesday night.

But if the Spurs are hanging their heads, well, try to understand. They may feel as though they choked in this series—losing the last four games as well as the huge lead in Game 6—and it’s possible they did. More likely, they just didn’t have enough gas in the tank.

At Chesapeake Energy Arena, we know which team brought more energy to the finish line. It was the Thunder. Of course it was.

The 107-99 victory will stand, for the time being, as the sweetest in Thunder history. Kevin Durant (34 points, 14 rebounds), Russell Westbrook (25 points) and company now await the winner of the Miami-Boston series in the East.

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Pretty wild to think that against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade’s Heat, or Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce’s (OK, Rajon Rondo’s) Celtics, OKC will be favored to raise the championship trophy. But that’s exactly the case.

Michael Jordan was 28 when he won his first of six rings. Shaquille O’Neal was 28 when he won his first of four.

Durant and Westbrook are both just 23. But this is when dreams are biggest—as they start to become reality. It could be a Thunder era in the NBA for a good, long while.

Meanwhile, Tim Duncan is 36. Manu Ginobili is 34, as is the Spurs’ long-range shooting star in Game 6, Stephen Jackson.

In the final minute, when the Spurs needed to make some game-saving plays, they were gassed. It was easy to see. Their era—four titles for Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich, three apiece for Ginobili and Tony Parker—could be just about over.